Rotary internal combustion engine



Nov. 14, 1961 MEZZETTA 3,008,457

ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed June 20, 1960 45 40 35 l MA K? SN INVENTOR d] Louis IIEZZH'M BY r Q WW INTENT AGENT 3,008,457 RGTARYINTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Louis Mezzetta, 8995 8th Ave, VilleSit-Michel, Quebec, Canada Filed ."E'unc 20, 1960, Ser. No. 37,248 6Claims. (Cl. 12317) The present invention relates to internal combustionengines of the rotary type and having a rotor with pivoted pistons orimpulse elements.

The general object of the present invention resides in the provision ofa rotary motor of the character described of new improved and simpleconstruction requiring no timing mechanism for the ignition means andhaving no valve means for the admission and exhaust, whereby the numberof movable parts is reduced to a minimum.

Another important object of the present invention resides in theprovision of a rotary internal combustion engine of the characterdescribed having a high compression ratio and in which scavenging of theexhaust gases is very efiicient.

Yet another important object of the invention resides in the provisionof a' rotary internal combustion engine of the character described inwhich the thrust developed by the explosions is exerted on the pistonssubstantially tangentially of the rotor with a minimum back pressure soas to develop maximum driving torque.

Yet another object of the present invention resides in the provision ofa rotary internal combustion engine of the character described which isso constructed that the if Patent f rate of movement of the pistons withrespect to the rotor is gradual so as not to impose any limitation uponthe speed at which the rotor may be driven.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention willbecome more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring tothe drawings, which:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal section of the motor; and

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section along line 22 of FIG- URE 1, but with therotor and cover in partly disassembled position.

Referring now more particularly to' the drawings in which like referencecharacters indicate like elements throughout, reference numeral 1indicates a bedplate on which is rigidly secured a casing 2 having agenerally flat back wall 3 and machined to provide an annular groove orspace 4 which is defined by bottom lateral wall 5, outer peripheral wall6 and inner peripheral wall 7. The space 4 opens at the front face 8 ofcasing 2, but this opening is adapted to be closed by the disc 9 of arotor generally indicated at 10 and which is rigidly secured to a shaft11 passing through the casing and journalled. in bearings 12. The disc 9of rotor 10 is in sliding contact with front face 8 of easing 2. A coverplate 13 is secured over the disc 9 of rotor 10 to the casing 2 by meansof bolts passing through holes 14 made at the periphery of cover plate13 and threaded in bores 15 made in the casing.

The rotor 10 has a cylindricalflange 16 integral with disc 9 andextending at right anglesthereto to enter the space 4. The cylindricalflange 16 is interrupted at three equally spaced areas 17 around theperiphery thereof and said areas are closed by impulse elements orpistons 18, 18', 18" which have generally a cross section in the form ofthe numeral 7 which consists of a main leg 19 and a transverse leg 2%.The free end of main leg 19 is hinged at 21 to the trailing edge of theopenings or areas 17 in a recess adjacent the inner cylindrical face 22of cylindrical flange 16 of the rotor 10. The end edges 23 and 24 ofpiston leg 26 are in sliding contact with the outer and inner peripheralwalls 6 and 7 of the annular space Patented Nov. 14, 1961 4respectively, said edges 23 and 24 being preferably provided withpacking for fluid proof sealing. The transverse leg 20 of the pistons 18is curved and its outer surface has a center of curvature coincidingwith hinge 21, such that said outer surface makes fluidproof contactwith packing 25 at the leading end of the interrupted area 17. A bore 26is made in the transverse leg 20 adjacent main leg 19.

The pistons 18 have a width equalto the width of the annular space 4such that the side edges of said pistons 18 are in sliding contact withthe bottom lateral face 5 of the space 4 and with the disc 9 of therotor.

The annular space 4 has a constant cross-sectional area throughout itslength because the radial spacing or depth between the outer and innerperipheral walls 6 and 7 is constant. Thus, the edges 23 and 24 of thepistons 18 are in constant sliding contact with said peripheral walls 6and 7, and the pistons are guided in their pivotal movement with respectto the rotor by said peripheral walls 6 and 7.

The annular space 4 is non circular; the peripheral walls 6 and 7 formeccentrically related pairs of circular outer and inner surface portions27, 28, and 29, 30, which diametrically opposed and merge with and areconnected by substantially straight surface portions 31, 32, 33 and 34,also diametrically opposed.

The radius and center of curvature of the circular surface portions 27,28, 29 and 30 are related to the radius of curvature and center ofrotation of the cylindrical flange 16 of rotor 10 such that the innercylindrical face 22 of rotor flange 16 is in sliding contact with theinner circular surface portion 28 and the outer cylindrical rotor face36 is in sliding contact with outer circular surface portion 29. Thus acombustion chamber 35 is defined between the outer'cylindrical face 36of rotor flange 16 and the outer peripheral wall 6 of annular space 4between points where will 6 is separated from rotor flange 16, and anadmission and compression chamber is defined between the innercylindrical face 22 of the rotor cylindrical flange 16 and the innerperipheral wall 7 of annular space 4, between points where wall 7 isseparated from rotor flange 16.

Ignition means, such as a glow plug 38 are located at the back lateralwall 5; of the annular space 4 at the beginning of the combustionchamber while admission ports 39 for the combustible mixture open at theinner peripheral wall 7 at the beginning of the admission andcompression chamber, that is in the area where the rotor leaves theinner peripheral wall 7. Slightly downstream from admission ports 39,exhaust ports 40' open at the outer peripheral wall 6, said ports beingconnected to exhaust pipe 41. The admission port 39 is suppliedby amixture of fuel and air by pipe 42.

Packings 43 may be disposed transversely across the outer peripheralwall 6 at the points where the, rotor leaves and comes in contact withsaid wall 6 respectively. Packings 44 are disposed across the innerperipheral wall 7 at the points where the inner cylindrical face 22 ofthe rotor flange 16 comes in contact with and leaves said innerperipheral Wall 7.

The motor may be air cooled, but is preferably water cooled by watersupplied by pipes 45, 46 into external and internal water jackets 47 and48 respectively.

The engine of the invention operates as follows: The rotor 10 rotates inthe direction indicated by arrow 50. As the piston 18 has swept past theadmission port 39 it has sucked the combustible mixture into theadmission zone of chamber 37, behind piston 18. a

The combustible mixture which had already been sucked or ahead of piston18 will now be compressed in.

the compression zone of chamber 37 during excursion of piston 18 throughsaid zone. Piston 18' ahead of piston 18 has already compressed thecombustible mixture, and said mixture is confined in space 51 ahead ofpiston 13 and space 52 on the outside of the piston 18'; as piston 18moves past the glow plug 38 explosion occurs within space 54 and adriving torque is produced on the rotor during excursion of the piston18' through combustion chamber 38. Meanwhile the exhaust gases of theprevious explosion and ahead of piston 18' are being expelled throughexhaust port 40. Thus, it is seen that there is admission, compressionand explosion of the combustion mixture and scavenging of the exhaustgases at each revolution of the rotor. It will also be seen that theexplosion and scavenging stages take place on the outside of the rotorflange 16 while the admission and compression take place on the insideof the rotor flange 16. The compressed gases pass from the inside to theoutside of the rotor flange through bores 26 made in the pistons 18.

It will be noted that with the arrangement of the invention the pistonsthemselves serve as valve means and ignition timing means. Explosion isinitiated upon passage of the pistons past the glow plug 38. Admissionis initiated upon passage of the pistons past the admission port 39 andexhaust is completed upon passage of the same pistons past exhaust port40.

The compression ratio is determined by the ratio of the volume of thecompression zone as defined between the successive blades 18 and 18 inthe position shown in FIGURE 1, plus the space on the outside of blade18, over the sum of the volumes of spaces 51 and 52. The compressionratio could be increased by moving the location of the glow plug 33slightly downstream and also if desired by thickening the main leg 19 ofthe pistons so as to reduce space 52.

The radius of curvature of the main leg 19 of the pistons issubstantially equal to the radius of curvature of circular portions 28and 30 such that the pistons conform to said circular portions in thearea of the combustion chamber.

The packings 43, 44 are such as not to hinder the free sliding movementof the rotor surfaces and of the piston edges. Preferably, additionalpackings 53 and 54 are mounted on the active'face of the rotor disc 9and bottom face of the casing 2, to effect sealing between the rotor andthe annular space 4-.

In order to resist the outward thrust exerted on the rotor disc 9, atleast one of the bearings 12 can be a thrust bearing or an adjustablescrew (not shown) may be threaded through the center of cover plate 13to engage the end of the shaft 11.

Although the embodiment of the invention illustrates an engine or motorhaving three pistons, it is to be understood that the number of pistonscould be doubled or even tripled by suitably modifying the shape of theannular space 4 and the location and number of glow plugs and exhaustand admission ports. For instance, for a six piston motor, the annularspace would have a generally square shape with the circular portions ofspace 4 at 90 apart, and would have the advantage of having thecombustion chambers diametrically opposed so as to balance the radialforces exerted on the rotor.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present inventionhas been illustrated and described it is understood that variousmodifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an internal combustion power unit, a casing defining anon-circular annular space having side walls, outer and inner peripheralwalls of constant spacing whereby said space has a constantcross-sectional area throughout its length, said peripheral wall formingeccentrically related pairs of inner and outer circular wall portionsrespectively connected by and merging with substantially straight innerand outer wall portions, a rotor having a cylindrical flange fittedwithin said space, and of a thickness smaller than the radial depth ofsaid space, and rotatable about a stationary axis, the radially innercylindrical face of said rotor flange being in sliding contact with theinner circular wall portion of one pair and the radially outercylindrical face of said rotor flange being in sliding contact with theouter circular wall portion of the adjacent pair, whereby said rotorflange defines within said space, a combustion chamber on the outside ofsaid rotor flange, and an admission and compression chamber on theinside of said rotor flange, piston members pivotally mounted on saidrotor flange and having a transverse portion extending through saidflange across the full cross sectional area of said space, and movableacross said rotor to make excursions alternately through said combustionchamber and through admission and compression chamber, said pistontransverse portion having a hole made therethrough establishingcommunication between the space ahead of and the space behind saidpiston transverse portion and on the outside of said rotor flange,ignition means at the beginnng of said combustion chamber, an exhaustport at the end of said combustion chamber, and a combustible mixtureadmission port at the beginning of said admission and compressionchamher.

2. In an internal combustion power unit as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid rotor cylindrical flange is interrupted at equally spaced areas,and said pistons extend across said areas having one end pivoted to oneedge of the interruption and their transverse portion in sliding contact with the opposite edge of the interrupted area.

3. In an internal combustion power unit as claimed in claim 2, whereinthe outer surface of said transverse piston portion is curved with acenter of curvature coinciding with the pivot of the piston to saidrotor flange.

4. In an internal combustion power unit as claimed in clam 3, whereinsaid pistons have a cross-sectional shape in the form of the numeral 7defining said cross portion and a main leg, the inner surface of saidmain leg having a radius of curvature equal to the radius of curvatureof the circular portions of said inner peripheral wall of said space.

5. In an internal combustion power unit as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid rotor comprises a disc in sliding contact with said casing anddefining one of said side walls of said space, said cylindrical flangedepending at right angles from said disc.

6. In an internal combustion power unit, a casing having a flat frontface and having therein a non-circular annular groove made opening atsaid front face, said groove being defined by a. flat bottom wall andouter and inner peripheral walls, at a constant spacing throughout thelength of said annular space, said peripheral walls formingeccentrically related pairs of inner and outer circular wall portionsconnected by and merging with substantially non-circular wall portions,a rotor consisting of a disc in sliding contact with the front face ofsaid casing, a shaft to which said disc is secured and journaled in saidcasing, and a cylindrical flange depending at right angles from saiddisc and fitted within said groove and of a thickness smaller than theradial depth of said groove, the radially inner cylindrical face of saidrotor flange being insliding contact with the inner circular wallportion of one pair, and the radially outer cylindrical face of saidrotor flange being in sliding contact with the outer circular wallportion of the adjacent pair, whereby a combustion chamber is definedwithin said groove by said outer peripheral wall and by said radiallyouter cylindrical face of said rotor flange from the point where saidrotor flange leaves contact with said outer peripheral wall to the pointwhere said rotor flange meets again with said outer peripheral wall, andan admission and compression chamber is defined between said innerperipheral wall and the radially inner cylindrical face of said rotorflange from the point where said rotor leaves said inner peripheral wallto the point where said rotor meets again said inner peripheral wall,ignition means located at the beginning of said combustion chamber, anexhaust port located at the end of said combustion chamber, and anadmission port for a combustible mixture located at the beginning ofsaid admission and compression chamber, said rotor cylindrical flangebeing interrupted at equally angularly spaced areas and pistons pivotedon said rotor flange, closing said interrupted areas and having a crossportion extending across said groove and in constant sliding contactwith said inner and outer peripheral walls, with said groove bottom walland with said rotor disc, and bores made through said piston crossportion for making communication between the zone ahead of said pistonand the zone behind said cross portion and on theoutside of said pistonwith respect to the direction of rotation of said rotor.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS342,079 Ekman May 18, 1886 1,180,200 Speese Apr. 18, 1916 1,405,326Powell Jan. 31, 1922 1,811,729 Molkenbur June23, 1931 1,923,561 WincklerAug. 22, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 702,632 France Jan. 26, 1931

